THE power of “American Idol” isn’t just helping game shows like “Are You as Smart as a Fifth Grader?” to big ratings – it is juicing the news, too.

An article in the latest edition of Broadcasting & Cable, a trade magazine due out today, says that the spill over from “Idol” is the biggest thing that ever happened to 10 o’clock newscasts around the country.

In Boston, L.A., Washington and Atlanta, the 10 p.m. news shows now have bigger audiences than the 11 p.m. newscasts on ABC, NBC and CBS stations – an unprecedented turn of fortunes.